Unintended consequences associated with usability of electronic health record (EHR) systems have the potential to negatively affect patient safety. This report outlines standards to enhance safety-related usability of EHRs by identifying root causes of use errors and addressing these weaknesses through human factors design.

Public reporting of health care–associated infection rates serves as a key measure for quality in hospitals. This commentary reveals limitations to using these metrics, such as variation in definitions, and outlines standards to guide the collection and utilization of surveillance data.

Book/Report

The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 mandated that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report to Congress the incidence of "never events" among Medicare beneficiaries, payment by Medicare for services in connection with such events, and the process used to identify events and deny payments. This report addresses that mandate by providing a descriptive analysis of the key issues to understanding hospital-based adverse events. The report is focused around discussion of seven critical issues that are explored in detail. Of note, OIG expanded the study of never events to the broader topic of adverse events in their analysis.

Clinical Guideline

This website is a practical resource to review existing clinical practice guidelines in a centralized location. Key components of the site include links to full-text guidelines and an assessment function that explores the rigor and trustworthiness of each document. This website was built by the team that developed and maintained the AHRQ National Guideline Clearinghouse, which is no longer available.

Grant > Fact Sheet/FAQs

In fiscal year 2004, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded nearly $4 million in Patient Safety Challenge Grants to support 13 new practice implementation projects. AHRQ challenged the health care community and other organizations to develop innovative solutions for the harm resulting from medical errors. The tools and procedures that emerged from these projects advanced the translation of research into clinical practice to support the agency's commitment to a medical culture grounded in safety and quality.